Booker Middle School teacher honored as Teacher of the Year

Booker Middle School teacher and orchestra director, Victor Fernandez, was honored as Sarasota County’s Teacher of the Year on Thursday, Jan. 26 at the Hyatt Regency. Fernandez was chosen from three finalists and will represent the school district at the Florida Department of Education Macy’s Teacher of the year gala.

Fernandez, who is a Cuba native and speaks English as a second language, started teacher at Booker
Middle School in August 2010. He also conducts the Sarasota Youth Orchestra.

The Teacher of the Year program focuses on the contributions of teachers and honors those who have the gift of inspiring a love of learning in their students.

“I approach teaching and music as I approach life,” Fernandez said. “As I explain to my students, ‘the more you put into anything, the more you get out of it.’ It works in music and it works in life. As I think of my students becoming adults and creating the rest of their lives, I aim to teach beyond the notes, and that truly shapes the way I teach music.”